


Aligning the Stars

by brotherskywalker, shadowssuitme



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Crossing Timelines, Divergent Timelines, F/M, Incest, Incest Kink, Matchmaking, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Pregnancy, Sibling Incest, The Force, The Force Ships It, True Love, Twincest, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-26 23:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brotherskywalker/pseuds/brotherskywalker, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowssuitme/pseuds/shadowssuitme
Summary: Ever since learning the truth of their shared parentage Luke and Leia have resisted the continued pull of attraction between them, but on what started out as a routine mission they discover the natives of Mabion have a very different belief system around a connection like theirs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A short but ambitious little piece co-written with ShadowsSuitMe that may spawn an even more ambitious little sequel later. We hope you'll enjoy this as a little Winter 2018 treat.

“Come to see me off?” Luke asks, sensing Leia's presence on the flight deck. He looks up from loading the last of his luggage for his latest trip in search of Force sensitives, and smiles. He hasn't seen Leia in far too long, and the sight of her always lifts his heart.

A pang of self-consciousness hits Leia at his words, at his bright and friendly smile. They don’t get enough time together, and it would be like her to steal a moment to say hello—or goodbye—when she can. But that isn’t what she’s come to do. She shifts her shoulder bag, wondering if he’s seen it. “I was actually hoping you had a free seat on that crate. Mabion is a world far from the Core—I’m going along as a Republic representative.”

Luke's eyebrows rise in surprise, taking in her bag as she shifts it. That and her tone tell him this isn't some elaborate joke. “What, really?” His momentary shock washes away almost immediately, sensing her turmoil. Brows furrowing, he takes a step toward her. “What's wrong?”

“What do you mean?” Leia asks, innocent yet brusque. “I can’t request a special assignment to spend time with you?” She pushes past him and boards the small ship.

The short window of time Luke has to launch is rapidly approaching, so he has no choice but to wave to the flight deck captain and hurry on after his sister. “You certainly can,” Luke says, “But you've never done it before.” He closes the boarding ramp and follows her as she heads toward the cockpit. It's a small ship; he hadn't planned on company. “And I'm headed to the Rim... I might not be back for weeks...”

“I know where Mabion is, Luke. I did a lot of research.” She sits in the copilot seat, stowing her bag behind her. “Are you coming?”

“Am _I_ coming?” He sits down in the pilot seat and starts prepping for take-off. For a few moments, there's no time for idle chatter as he gets the go ahead and starts the ship out. He keeps glancing at Leia, in disbelief that she's sitting in his co-pilot's seat. After a few conversations with control, before launching, he says, “Does Han know you're doing this?”

She tenses. He knows to ask. It’s not as if things have been going well, and he did already know about that, after all. “I don’t know,” she replies honestly. “I’m sure he could find out quite easily.”

Luke keeps his eyes on her for a few long seconds, and then the ship demands his attention. They're go for launch, and his focus is taken until they're seeing the streaks of hyperspace blasting across their viewscreen. He leans back in his chair, the ship now on autopilot. “Want to talk about it?”

She doesn’t. Because if she does, she’s worried she’ll cry, and she wants him to think of her as strength personified. “It’s over,” she says softly, cryptically.

It's enough. Those two simple words, and the waves of mixed sadness rolling off her, tell Luke everything. It's not exactly a surprise as the two had been struggling to find common footing for some time now, but it nevertheless hurts to hear her say it. It sounds so final. “I'm sorry.”

Leia shakes her head. “Don’t be.” But she falls into a sad silence, looking out the viewport. “I hope... I’m not bothering you....”

Luke smiles sadly, his eyes on her profile. “You could never bother me.” He's not sure running away from her sadness or problems is the solution, but... well, they're already on their way. His eyes glance back to her small bag, stowed behind her. “I hope you brought enough clothes for three weeks away.”

She’d honestly just grabbed what she could, and it’s not enough, but something about being close to him is already making her feel better, and she smiles. “I wouldn’t mind spending an afternoon with you doing laundry.” She sobers a little, wondering if she’s being too familiar. She thinks they were closer, once, before they knew they were twins and that made everything so _intense_ and put pressure on them to have a relationship and the _right kind_ of relationship... but maybe it’s a trick of her memory. Maybe they’d always just been in each others' orbit, and maybe they’d never been as close as she likes to think. She loves him, of course, and she always has, but she can’t pretend they’ve ever really been completely at ease with each other, not consistently. At first Han had purposely gotten in the way, and then gotten in the way in spite of his best efforts not to, and finally... finally Leia had _wanted_ him to get in the way, because it was easier than trying to figure out how to be close to this grown boy with eyes that can see right through her. It was easier, at the time, to let Han take as much of her attention as she could spare.

Until she and Han had finally had to admit that they might still care for each other, but when it really came down to it, they didn’t have much keeping them together. Too different, he’d said. He’d said it over and over. He was right.

Different.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Leia says, almost squirming under Luke’s sincere gaze. His soft blue eyes are so expressive, and all she sees when she looks at them now is understanding and compassion and sorrow, and she wishes he’d be harder on her sometimes. “I just needed something to do—I’ll go home when it’s over and move on. How are you?” She’s changing the subject deliberately, but she genuinely wants to know. Luke can be so secretive for someone who puts so much stock in emotional honesty and accountability.

Luke's been running away, too. Not as badly as he did the first year after the death of their father, but he's still not comfortable wandering the halls of the reclaimed Coruscant buildings. He'll never be used to the eyes that stare at him, or the voices that whisper in awe about him. It was difficult enough after the Battle of Yavin IV, but he'd been a younger, more idealistic man back then and had enjoyed the attention. Now, it's too much. He's must more content on a small ship, traveling deep into the black in search of other Force sensitive people, putting his talents to use and keeping out of the way. It's lonely, but it's a self-imposed loneliness that is easier to bear than whatever kind of public loneliness he found waiting for him in the Core. “I'm fine,” he says, giving her half a smile. A bit more brightly, he adds, “It's nice not to be alone for once.”

Leia’s chest tightens. “You never have to be alone,” she says, trying to be helpful, but aware at the same time she’s probably being anything but. “People ask me all the time if you’re still single, if I could...but I know, I know.” She puts her hands up in surrender before he can protest. “I know I’m not supposed to set you up, so I don’t. But I could. If you ever want.”

Luke almost laughs because it feels like such an absurd conversation, but he doesn't. "I appreciate... but I could be with someone if I wanted. I'm not alone because I can't meet women." She knows that. He knows she knows that. "Anyway, it's a different kind of loneliness. That's why I'm looking for more Force users... so I can share this... gift with others." His eyes brighten suddenly. "Actually, if nothing else, this would be a good time to teach you some Force focusing skills."

Leia smiles. He tries, every chance he gets, to teach her something, but she’s usually busy enough with politics and administrative work to even give it much thought. She almost opens her mouth to give him a weak protest, before admitting to herself that she has no reason to say no. “All right,” she says with half-feigned reluctance. “I guess this mission is the best chance we’ve had in a while. Where’d we stop last time?” She realized after she says it that last time was months ago, maybe close to a year ago, and she wonders how much she even remembers.

"We never got much past meditating. You could never relax enough. Have you practiced much on your own?" He looks at her keenly. "At all?"

Leia’s look is somewhere between a smile and a grimace, and she doesn’t confirm nor deny the accusation.

Luke sighs, but good-naturedly. "Then I guess we had better just start from the beginning." He glances around the ship. It's cozy for one but a bit small for two. "Perhaps the cockpit isn't the best place to start meditating...."

The ship isn't designed for freight, and the only proper room on the ship is the living quarters, with one double-decker bunk bed, a small table with two bolted-down chairs, and a galley with just a hot water spigot, a cold water spigot, and a compact unit for heating and rehydrating rations. The lights can be dimmed, however, and the beds aren't horribly uncomfortable, so Leia takes the initiative and relocates. "I've tried to meditate without you," she admits, at last. "But I usually fall asleep. I always think it will help after a long day, but...I guess I'm just too tired. That didn't happen when we did it together...."

"You just need someone to prod you in the ribs when you start nodding off," he teases, but he knows it's not the reason. Jedi have masters to keep them focused. She needs someone to keep her disciplined. "Sit on the bed," he says, picking a spot on the floor for himself.

She does, instantly dropping into a cross-legged posture, her hands on her knees, her eyes closed, as easily as if she'd done it every day since he'd taught her. "It's not that," she says without looking at him. "I think just being around you helps me know how to do it, if that makes sense. I just know because you know."

For a little bit, Luke is quiet. Eventually, he nods. "I can reach out to you in the Force when we're together. I can help guide you." He does so now, cradling her flickering flame with the immensity of his Force ability. She fits so comfortably there. "Like this."

Leia's soul feels like it's floating on a soft cloud of warmth and gentle strength, and she relaxes into it, feeling energized, and focused, as much as kindly guided. The presence is so very much _Luke_ , her Luke, the one who is always there no matter how much he pretends to keep himself separate. He's sweeter than anyone she knows, and more solid, braver, more intense. A heart made soft through suffering and pain, a sensitive boy who learned to respect everyone because he can _feel_ what they've been through. Leia is swept up in the sense of him, connecting deeper with it almost involuntarily, until she snaps her eyes open, drawing a sharp breath. "Sorry, I...I didn't mean to go so...far...."

“Don't apologize,” Luke says, almost breathless. Her emotions are all tangled up in his, her energy a jumble, and it's pulling him down almost as much as it's cradling her. He sets about smoothing her out, calming her anxiety, untangling her emotions until she's floating again. “We're so much alike... sometimes things get mixed up.”

Alike.

Leia starts floating again, but she finds herself sinking right back into him, and all she can hear is Han saying over and over, “We’re too different,” and Luke saying, “We’re so much alike,” until she disconnects again and stands abruptly, going to hide in the cramped closet of a bathroom, washing her face in cold water.

Leia's gone before Luke's even completely aware she's left their small room. She's still close enough he can feel her through the Force as if she were right next to him. There's too much to untangle still between them, as perhaps there's always been, and Luke doesn't chase after her.

When she finally resurfaces, he's sitting at one of the two chairs at the table, reading over the history of the people of Mabion. The rumors that come out of the world make it a very promising candidate, even if only ten percent of it is true. “Have you ever met anyone from Mabion?” he casually asks, content to not embarrass her by drawing attention to her earlier retreat.

Leia blinks, surprised that he’s not asking about her sudden exit, but relieved, and she sends a thank you to him through the Force, and wonders if he feels it. After all, she’s no Jedi. “I don’t think so,” she answers, looking for caf or tea in the galley cupboards. “I know it makes Tatooine look close, though, so small wonder.”

“There's instant caf in the cupboard on the left,” he says, without lifting his eyes off the datapad. He reads her so well he doesn't even realize it. “I don't think I've ever met anyone from there either... if any of these rumors are true, I feel for sure I'd have noticed.”

Leia smiles a little, trying to suppress it out of respect, even though no one can see her but Luke. “You mean that stuff about the... marriages...?”

“The matchmaking, yes. Being able to read people and judge their compatibility... if that was possible surely it would have spread off world. Surely someone would be in the Core, selling their knowledge.”

Leia shakes her head. “That’s part of why I don’t think there’s any way it could be real. If it were, don’t you think everyone would use it? It’s too good to be true.”

“If I didn't think there was a chance to be real, I wouldn't be heading there,” he says, watching as she starts preparing the caf. He sends her a request through the Force to make him a cup too, but says, “Have you ever had one of those cream eggs from Vanafarr? I don't mean the synthetic recreation ones, but a real one. They're incredible, so moist and creamy, and completely natural. They're laid by a real animal, just like that. They're so rare that it's hard to find a real one, but it's so good and popular that there are thousands of copycats out there...

“That's what I'm suspecting may've happened on Mabion. Have a dozen or so Force sensitive individuals—perhaps a particularly talented family—who have spent years honing and training a real ability. It makes them wildly famous, and pretty soon you've got dozens of copy cats popping up all over the place. Fast-forward ten generations and the concept has run amok. Perhaps there aren't any real Force sensitives left out there anymore, but if there were—how could you even tell?”

“You think this carnival game is a sign you might find Jedi analogues there?” Leia asks, a little amused, but not laughing at him. It’s sort of a brilliant lead, and Luke’s always one to put his brains to use in unconventional ways, which Leia admires about him. She wishes her intellect weren’t constrained by her very early and very formal academic education. She pours sweetened condensed bantha milk into Luke’s caf and leaves hers black, joining him at the table.

“Thank you,” he says, taking the cup from her, letting their eye and hands meet briefly. “I think there's a chance that one of the thousands might be the real thing, and I'm counting on my strength in the Force to help guide me. Maybe you'll be able to tell, too...”

She nods, considering it, then scoffs holding up her mug. “I wonder what they would have said about me and Han. ‘Absolute disaster. Nothing in common. Probably fight all the time.’” She drinks a big gulp of the caf, though it’s a little too hot.

Luke lowers his eyes. “I doubt that... you and Han love each other. Even now. You have a lot of shared experiences together. There's a spark between you two. It might not be conductive to a long lasting relationship, but that doesn't mean...” He finds his reflection staring back at him in his caf. “Do you regret being with Han?”

“No,” she says softly. “No, we needed each other. But... I guess now I know what I don’t want. That’s something, right?”

Luke laughs, somewhat sadly. “That's one way to look at it. Who knows, perhaps when you're both older and more settled down, you'll fall back into each other's orbit. He's a good guy... and you're a great woman. You're just on different paths. I'm sure the soothsayers of Mabion would say the same.” He waves his hand over his coffee, adopting a funny voice. “'Outlook hazy. Proceed with caution.'”

They laugh together, and Leia says, after they sober, “I don’t know. I never really connected to him like I should. Honestly, I think I’m closer to you than I ever was to him.”

“Well, we're twins. That's only natural.” He smiles at her, then finally takes a sip of his caf. It's bitter and a bit off—just how old are those caf crystals anyway?—but the milk is soothing and the warmth is a nice way to brush off the cold edge of space. “Try not to dwell on it. Let's just get to Mabion and try to enjoy ourselves, and maybe get you in touch with the Force a little better along the way.  
\--

Their subsequent meditation sessions go a bit more smoothly, though not entirely without issue. Luke can meditate for hours at a time, but Leia tends to struggle keeping her mind clear more than twenty minutes, even with Luke's assistance. By the time they arrive in Mabion a few days later she's managed a few hour-long stretches, but they both know it was only due to Luke's help.

Still, it's progress, and Luke is excited. Even if they don't find anything on Mabion the whole trip might be worth it just for the chance to focus on teaching Leia the Force. “I don't really have a plan once we land,” Luke confesses as he brings the ship into formation for breaching the atmosphere. “If I pick something up, I'll head in that direction. Otherwise, I plan to find a room to let and start asking questions to lead me toward some potential Force users.”

Leia’s just happy to be out of the Core. Mission or no, training or no, this is the closest thing she’s had to a vacation in... well, since she was a child, probably. Content to go along with Luke’s plan, she starts looking at vacation rentals in a few major cities on a datapad as they orbit. “How will you pick something up? Maybe if we both look for it together....”

“Through the Force,” Luke says. “It hasn't happened yet, but I assume I'll be able to feel it... I can sense you, if I try. I think it will be like that. I'll just sense it.” They brace for the descent, the little ship rocking against the atmosphere as they approach. It takes only a few minutes, and then Luke is landing the ship at the docking bay he's asked for clearance on. They sit a moment as the ship cools down. “You can't tell the New Republic just how much time I waste wandering around hoping to feel a magic tickle in my head. I'm supposed to be doing important Jedi business, but sometimes it feels like I'm just fooling everyone—including myself.” He can feel Leia though. That much at least is real, but she's the only one he's ever been able to feel.

Well, her and Vader. He was too green when Obi-Wan and Yoda were around, and there's never been anyone else. Perhaps it only works with his family... or perhaps he really is the last remaining Jedi.

Leia can sense his melancholy, and she rests a hand on his shoulder to try to shake him gently out of it, smiling at him with encouragement. “You’re doing your best, and I’ll do what I can. Together we might be more effective than apart.” She leans across the distance between their seats and kisses his cheek before unbuckling her restraints and rising to exit the ship.  
\--

They've landed in Karr, a bustling port city that is far more modern than Luke expected. Although Mabion is a Rim world, far from the galactic center and untouched by most of the Imperial and Old Republic, it's not backwater in the sense that the natives are living in swamps and huts. There's a crowded spaceport, and tall skyscrapers loom in the distance. A single yellow star lights the blueish sky, and if Luke didn't know better he'd assume he was still somewhere near the Core.

He and Leia gather their belongings and are soon on the streets. “Feel anything?” he asks as they merge into the dense crowd.

“If you don’t, what makes you think I would?” Leia asks, not unkindly, grabbing Luke’s arm instinctively when they enter an especially crowded area and she almost gets pushed away from him by the bustle. They’ve come on a minor holiday, Leia knows, the kind that is more likely to trigger street fairs and music than religious observance—something about honoring the matchmakers, as the Mabionites consider them to be the source of their prosperity and happiness. She wonders if anyone speaks Basic.

It seems like they wander for hours, and eventually they stop to eat out of necessity. String lights and bonfires start to ignite in the encroaching dark. “We might as well go see the main event,” Leia muses as they finish their dinner, following the crowd with her eyes. They seem to be moving increasingly in one direction.

Luke's reluctant to partake in too much cultural indulgence. He feels guilty enough as it is. If Leia weren't with him, he'd have already moved on to the next town in search of _that feeling_ , whatever _that feeling_ ended up being. Leia's just broken up from a several year relationship though, and needs distractions, so he allows himself to be jostled along. Going with her makes it somehow feel less like he's slacking his duties, and who knows... perhaps a real, Force-using matchmaker will appear at the event.

Leia smiles at Luke, pulling him by the hand, following the crowd. The center of the focus seems to be the main stage, which she and Luke had passed several times earlier in the day when musicians and speakers had occupied the space. Now, a middle-aged woman with long white hair, wearing long blue robes is being lead onto the stage, and the crowd is going absolutely wild.

Furrowing her brow, Leia thinks she might sense something for the first time since arriving on planet, but she wonders if it’s only because she wants to. “Do you?” she asks Luke, shouting over the crowd.

Luke's brow has also furrowed, his eyes fixed on the old woman speaking to the crowd. “I feel... something,” he says, his mouth close to her ear so he can be heard over the cheers. It's not quite the Force as he knows it, but it's some kind of unusual energy that feels similar. “Let's watch.”

They get as close to the stage as they can, and Leia strains to pick the little bit of the local language she managed to learn on the way over, but it's fairly self-explanatory from what she knows of the culture. The matchmaker picks pairs from the audience, some that volunteer by enthusiastically raising their hands, others that she picks due to, seemingly sensing how perfect they are for each other. Occasionally, she even picks to people from the audience who are standing nowhere near each other, and, Leia thinks, tells them that they belong together.

When each selected couple is brought on stage, the cheers grow ever louder. After a little ceremony, the couples are then led backstage, and that makes Luke suspicious. “Probably on to part them from their money.... She has some kind of real energy though... Let's see if she can sense us.” To strengthen his focus, Luke reaches down and takes Leia's hand in his. Then, his eyes focused on the woman on stage, he projects the Force at her.

Instantly, mid-sentence, the woman stops speaking and her eyes pick Luke's out in the back of the thronging crowd. She says something to him, and when he doesn't respond she says something else. Slowly, the people in the crowd start turning around to find the person she's looking at.

It's way more intense than the results Luke had expected.

“You!” the woman says again, this time in accented Basic. “You must come here!”

Leia senses the woman's power flare up, but she's not attuned enough to anyone besides Luke to distinguish their different emotions through the Force, and so she mistakes the matchmaker's tone for an accusation. Have they done something inappropriate by coming here? By using the Force in her presence? And she's calling them out on it publicly? Leia's hand tenses around Luke's and she whispers urgently, "Did we do something wrong?"

“I don't know,” Luke replies lowly. The noise of the crowd had died down enough he no longer has to shout. “Just stay close to me.” He starts walking toward the stage, the people parting the way for them as they approach.

The old woman's eyes never waver, but occasionally glance to Leia. “Your names,” she demands.

Luke finds his tongue in his throat, not sure how much truth he wants to tell, or whether or not she could pick up on a lie. “I'm Luke,” he finally says. “This is Leia.”

"How long are you together?" she asks.

Leia's hand feels hot against Luke's, but she doesn't dare move. "We're not,” she says.

If Leia were an unbiased observer, she might think the matchmaker had laughed knowingly. "Well, how long are you _not_ together?"

"Five years?" Leia guesses, counting from the Death Star, then realizing it's probably closer to six, but not amending her answer.

“Longer than that,” the woman says, looking at them as if she can read the age on their faces. “A long time. Very long time. When babies. I have never felt...” She holds her tongue, turns to the audience watching, and says several things in the native language, her voice booming and confident. The hush that had fallen over the audience is washed away by a roar of cheers. As the audience whoops and hollers, she turns back to Luke and Leia. “You are very strong. Together. We must speak.”

Leia furrows her brow incredulously, looking at Luke. “What is she talking about?”

Luke shakes his head. “I think... she can tell we're Force sensitive.” It makes his heart leap with joy, because if it's true then this woman is the first Force user he's met in all his travels. She's likely too old and set on her path to desire to train to become a Jedi, but she's well-known and revered. If there are other Force users on Mabion, it's a good chance she knows of them. “We'd like to speak with you, too,” Luke says.

The woman's eyes twinkle, and she gestures toward the back of the stage, where some attendants are waiting. “Go. I will follow soon.”

Leia shrugs, murmuring something about how she’d wanted to come along, so she’d might as well go along with whatever-this-is, while she and Luke climb onto the stage. They’re escorted to a comfortable makeshift-lounge area while the attendants talk in their native language, making each other laugh, and Leia feels that the laughter is at her and Luke’s expense. Impatiently, Leia starts thinking about how late it’s getting, and the fact that they don’t have a place for the night yet.

“Calm your mind,” Luke says, reaching his hand out to cover hers. Doing so helps ground them both. He knows how much she hates not having everything sorted and planned. She doesn't do well rudderless. “If we can't find a place tonight, we can go back to the docks and sleep on the ship. I want to know what she has to say. She's got the Force, Leia. I can feel it. And if anyone else is on this planet is Force sensitive, it's a good bet she knows it.”

“I know,” Leia replies, still tapping her for impatiently while she sits. She accepts an offered glass of wine from one of the attendants and watches Luke turn down the same, then slumps into the couch to wait for the old woman to come explain to them what’s going on.

It takes about forty-five minutes, full of half-heard speeches Leia doesn’t understand and cheers from the crowd, but she does finally come to join them. She bows to them when she enters the lounge. “I am Lohar, head... matchmaker, is the word, yes? Matchmaker. Very excite I have to see you here today.”  
Leia's the diplomat between them, but Luke finds himself taking the reins. He's the Jedi, after all. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Lohar. We've traveled a very long way to meet someone like you.”  
She smiles. “I have waiting long time to meet someone like you. But why you look for me? Already together—even though she says you’re not. You want me to tell you what you know already?” She laughs. “People are liking to be told, though. Even when they are together long time.”

“We’re not together,” Leia starts to protest, feeling exasperated and raw, and like her usual tact with words is failing her. “We came here looking for others who could use the Force, like us.”

“Use the Force?” Lohar repeats, and the word sounds strange coming from her lips. “Oh! I know what it is you mean. We do not call it Force, but I will use your word. Yes, I use it. I feel it in you. Never before so strong. In both you.”

“Yes, we're both strong in the Force,” Luke says, giving Leia a brief glance. “I'm a... a teacher that uses this power. I am seeking others who are like us, so I can teach them how to use the power more fully. Do you know of any others like yourself?”

Lohar laughs. “I know others... but that is not your concern. You do not understand my meaning. You two are... I do not know the word. But when I tell them,” she gestures to the audience out of view, beyond, “They will celebrate two weeks in the street.”

“Because we’re also Force users?” Leia asks.

“Because you are....” she uses a word Leia doesn’t know, then clarifies in Basic. “Meaning to be together? Most... meaning to be together. Very rare. Our word means something about two bodies with one heart.”

Luke very consciously doesn't look at Leia in that moment. “Twins, I think you mean. We're twins... born at the same time. It's not uncommon where we're from. Certainly not something to celebrate.”

“Twins?” She asks, not understanding the word.

“Brother and sister. But the same age.”

“Oh! Yes, twins, I know this word. No, that is not it. I mean in love.” She shakes her head. “Language is difficult. But I can feel your feelings for each other, and I tell you that you are together and being very happy that way.”  
Luke laughs uncomfortably. “I'm afraid you're mistaken... it's not like that.”

Lohar fixes her cool, dark eyes on Luke, piercing into his soul. “In seventy-three cycles I have never once been mistaken. Many claim they do what I do... but they cannot. I have the gift. The truth eye. I can see the way of things. You are...” She struggles again with the language barrier. “You are perfect. Perfect match. The highest ever I have seen. It is the truth.”

Leia shakes her head emphatically, feeling hot and confused. “You can’t be... suggesting that siblings become romantic with each other?”

Lohar shrugs. “What you do is up to you, of course. Free choice is always. I can only tell you the potential I see.”

“That's not... why we came here. We're seeking Force users. Students. Young people I can train to use the Force as I do.”

“So you have said.” Lohar sits back, looking between the two of them. “I shall see what I can do... tonight you will stay in the--” she says a word in her native language. “It is spacious and free of charge. I ask only in return you consider this match. In Karr the match is... emperor. The highest, above all else... Do not dismiss it because you are brother and sister only.”

“That's not even legal,” Leia scoffs, as if that were her only objection, and then she blushes, hiding her face.

“Perhaps it is not where you are from... but you are in Karr, now, and the Matchmaker has spoken. It is truth. Tomorrow. Tomorrow we talk more. There are other matches must be attended.” She claps her hand, and attendants arrive, quickly escorting Luke and Leia out of the room and down the hall.

They're soon entering a huge palatial structure, beautifully lit and elegantly designed. The noise from the street crowds is long gone. “Do you want to leave?” Luke asks quietly as they follow along. He can't decide which will be more awkward—going back to the ship and spending the night with her in those cramped quarters, or letting this play out in the hopes that they can talk to her about Force users in the morning.

“No, that would be rude,” Leia says. “We should accept their hospitality. They aren’t making us do anything.” Then why is she trembling?

They’re shown to a huge suite of rooms, something like a honeymoon suite, but not entirely focused on sex and romance. Past the ornate, comfortable sitting room, there’s a small private garden with night-blooming plants and a pool that reflects the triple moonlight. Through double doors Leia can see a huge bed covered in silk and velvet. It reminds her a little of Alderaani architecture and decor, and she relaxes a little. The attendants leave them, indicating a table covered with bottles of liquor and plates of food, perhaps telling them to help themselves and make themselves at home.

Leia takes one look at Luke once they’re alone, then goes for the bottles. “Come on, we might as well have some fun, if we’re in for the night.”

Only on-the-go Jedi meditation has kept Luke's emotions in check this whole time. He's not sure mixing alcohol to that is such a good idea. And yet...

He shakes his head. He can't honestly be entertaining the idea... “We can take our leave in the morning,” he says, “but if she has connections to other Force users, I don't want to upset her.” After a few more moments of hesitation, Luke finally starts toward the table, making himself a little plate of what looks like cheese, fruit and crackers. He doesn't sit though, standing somewhat awkwardly by the table as he nibbles.

Leia pours herself a generous glass of wine, wishing Luke would just drink with her. Whatever happened in their meeting with Lohar was too much for her to bear. She’s still shivering.

Taking the bottle and glass with her, Leia walks into the garden, noticing for the first time that the pool isn’t a pond but some sort of large soaking pool, full of hot water, with tiled steps into the water and steam dancing on the surface in the cooling night. Insects chirp, and the weather is perfect.

She gulps the wine. This would certainly be romantic, if....

“How does she decide?” Leia says into the hotel suite, to Luke still standing at the table, pretending to be interested in the food. “What is she feeling about us?”

Luke really expected them to laugh Lohar's proclamations off and not discuss them. He knew it would be awkward ignoring it, but he figured it was an unspoken agreement. Leia's always direct and frank, but even so he didn't expect her to ask him so directly. Reluctantly, holding the plate in front of him for some kind of support, he slowly walks toward her, stopping at the doorway to the garden. “I don't know. She might just be basing it on how Force sensitive two individuals are. We're probably the strongest she's ever felt.”

Leia nods. It sounds so reasonable, and suddenly she's embarrassed for even being as affected by it as she has been. Luke seems awkward, but so calm, and she feels like a ball of frenetic energy. "I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm vulnerable... right now." She sighs. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...."

“Don't apologize.” Her need is palatable, and he goes to her, setting the plate aside so he can take the wine glass and bottle out of her hands. He sets them aside, then takes up her hands in his, shocked how cold she feels. “Let's sit down,” he suggests, leading her to a nearby sunken sitting area with a small warm fire already crackling in front of the big curved seat. He consciously rubs her fingers. “You've had a rough week, we're both exhausted from the travel here... We should get some rest. I'm sure we'll both feel better in the morning.”

Her hands warm instantly in his, and she feels safe, cared for. Luke's so good at that. She licks her lips, thinking. "I haven't slept well since Han left," she admits. She's never slept well, and he knows that about her, but she's so aware of her loneliness, now.

Against his better judgment, Luke wants to draw Leia to his chest and hold her. Everything about her is crying out for it, and perhaps last night he would've done just that and thought nothing of it. Tonight, though, after Lohar's proclamation, it feels horribly taboo. Perverted. Twisted. “I can try to help, if you want... We could meditate. There are relaxation techniques.”

Leia's one-third drunk, and she's worried that if they meditate she'll let him in too far, or she'll lose herself in him, in his comforting presence that wraps around hers like velvet. She shakes her head. "No, not tonight." She feels him hesitating as well, keeping more physical distance than usual, even though their hands are touching. It wouldn't be unlike him to just hold her. He does it all the time.

Is that strange?

"We touch a lot," Leia says softly.

“Sometimes,” Luke agrees. They do touch a lot. Last night, he would have held her and thought little of it. Is the fact that he's not doing it now, because of some matchmaker's word, implying there's something wrong about it? Would it be somehow different if he held her now? Deciding at last that he has to make his own decisions, he ignores Lohar's words completely, and pulls Leia closer. It's not quite an embrace, but he puts his arm around her shoulder, and pulls her alongside him until she's leaning against him, and his arm is around her neck. “I don't think it's weird, though... We understand each other.”

"I understand you as well as I understand myself," she laughs. "Which isn't always well. But... it's deeper than understanding. It's more like... being... part of each other." Then she remembers Lohar's words, one heart, two bodies, and she regrets her choice of words.

She curses herself internally for being so shaken by this.

"I think you should come inside with me," Leia says, rising. "I... want to tell you about what happened with Han, is that all right?"

“I...” Luke shakes his head. “Of course.” He can't deny her. He gives her a side hug, then stands up, reaching down to help her up. They gather their plates and cups and head back inside. It really is a beautiful room, and whatever else happens, he's glad they'll get at least one night in a big spacious suite like this. They can both use it.

Leia takes the bottle from Luke, decides it won't do, and picks a bottle of something that smells strong but not unpleasant. "Do you want ice?" Leia asks, and when Luke hesitates before he answers, she goes ahead and pours him some of the liquor anyway, handing it to him, and pouring one for herself. She sips the drink. "So, part of it, is that the thought of having a family _terrifies_ him," she begins, and inside of half an hour she's described the entire slow implosion of their relationship, and another half hour in, she and Luke are lounging on opposite ends of the bed, taking about what things were like when they all first met, their boots on the floor, both of them flushed and a little heady from the liquor. "You know, it was just because... I mean not, _just_ because...." Leia says, having trouble gathering her thoughts, "It was at least a _lot_ because he wore me down. No, not 'wore me down.' That's not fair to him. But I _did_ get swept up in it, you know?"

“He's very charismatic,” Luke agrees. He goes to take a sip and finds his glass is empty—again—and finally sets it aside, next to the almost-empty bottle. “I wasn't... I mean, I wasn't surprised when I found out. Sad, a little, perhaps... but not surprised.” He smiles sadly. “For the best though, in the end...”

"I really didn't want to hurt you," Leia says, her heart aching as if it just happened. "I knew how you felt about me, and I just wanted you to... to _do_ something about it." She hears herself, realizes how much she's let her guard down, and sets her last drink aside half-empty. "Were you in love with me?" she asks softly.

“I was crazy about you,” Luke says, then swallows. Perhaps he let that out too easily. “But... I was shy and lacked confidence, and you were always shutting Han down. We were in a war. It just never felt like the right time.” He finds himself staring at the fancy painting across the room, which transforms every few seconds into a different cascade of colors and shapes. “Maybe it was fate intervening to make sure we didn't do something we'd one day regret...”

"It wouldn't have been our fault." She turns over on her side so she can face Luke, and it feels intimate but not strange or awkward to be lying next to him like this. "We would have gotten past it."

“I know.” It's not like they didn't cross the line a few times as it was. There was the time she taught him to swim on Yavin IV and they had no swimsuits so they slipped into the dark water without any clothes... and the time after that, on Hoth, when she'd kissed him before she knew he was planning to leave to go to Dagobah... After a few times, after Bespin, when Han was frozen in carbonite and they'd both needed something... But they never talk about it anymore. His eyes study her face, glance down at her lips, and then he sits up. “We should probably get some sleep...”

Leia groans sleepily and buries her head in the pillow. "Goodnight," she mumbles, without discussing who will sleep where. "I felt the same, you know." She's not sure why she's admitting it.

“Shhh,” he says, ignoring the leap in his head. It doesn't matter now. No matter what the matchmaker said, or how his heart might sing, it doesn't matter now. She's more drunk than he is, and he helps her under the covers before turning out the lights. He sets a glass of water on the nightstand beside her. “You'll feel better in the morning.”

"Thank you," Leia murmurs, letting herself start to drift off, comforted by the sound of Luke's breathing.


	2. Chapter 2

When Leia wakes up, she doesn't think about the arms around her, the gentle rise and fall of her bedmate's chest, his warmth. Instead she accepts it, because it feels so natural. It's only when she opens her eyes that she realizes Luke's in bed with her, and they're holding each other tightly, fitting into one another perfectly.

The bed is big and spacious. When Luke decided it would be safe to crawl in last night, it was with the understanding that he'd stay on his side and Leia'd stay on hers. He did not expect, during the night, for them to both naturally gravitate toward the middle. He didn't expect Leia to spoon herself against his warmth, or that his reaction to be to wrap his arms around her, despite knowing she'd been aching to be held all night.

That's how he wakes up, though, with his nose against the back of his sister's head, his arms loosely draped around her middle, his legs curved against the crook of hers. It seems a sin to pull away from that ensconced warmth, but he does so almost immediately.

To Leia, it almost feels like part of her is being torn away, but only for a moment. Keeping her composure in spite of a slight hangover, she sits up. "Hey—it's okay. I probably...just instinctively came over to you in my sleep." She isn't used to being single, yet, she tells herself.

“I should've slept on the couch,” Luke says, but leaves it at that. It was an innocent accident, and he's soon out of bed, stretching, his back to Leia. Best to forget about it. “Did you sleep all right at least?”

Leia blinks, surprised. "I slept really well, actually." She notices the glass of water and asks, "Did you put that there?"

Luke finally looks over his shoulder at her, and is glad she's still wearing all of her clothes from last night. “Yeah... I didn't want you to have a hangover. I may've also tried some relaxing Force techniques on you last night... I'm glad they seem to have worked.”

He's always so good to her. "Thank you," she breathes. "You should show me how to do the Force relaxing thing. Next time you overwork yourself, I could..."

He tried last night, but she'd resisted meditation, perhaps with good reason. He nods, nevertheless. “I'd be happy to show you, any time... This might be a good place for it.” In the adjoining room, he discovers last night's food has been cleared away and fresh breakfast has been set. There's also a note writing in flourishing Basic that instructs them how to contact Lohar once they're awake and ready. He shows it to Leia. “I want to talk to her as much as I can while we're here. You don't have to come if you'd rather not.”

“Of course I’m coming,” Leia says. “I’m representing the Republic. Besides, it’s not as if I have anything else to do.” They eat, then Leia takes a quick, hot shower, putting on a long flowing dress, modest and appropriate for her station and heritage, but not stuffy or overly formal. Luke’s in his robes after he bathes, and they contact Lohar, and she comes to their room with her attendants.

“I hope you are sleeping good,” she says. “And enjoying the room.” Her smile is bright, and Leia has the uncanny feeling again that Lohar knows something they don’t, and is trying to make it apparent.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Luke says. “We both slept very well.”

Lohar nods, glancing back and forth between them. “Interesting, you two are. So interesting. Come, we have a ceremony. Many wish to see you.”

Leia gulps, but doesn’t shy away, her curiosity at least as strong as her apprehension. She and Luke exchange a look as they follow the woman down the corridor and back to the stage.

The festival is still going on, but Leia isn’t sure if that’s usual, or if the people really are rejoicing for weeks because of her and Luke, like Lohar said they would. A crowd cheers as soon as Luke and Leia are in view, and Leia starts to wonder if they should take their leave as soon as it seems remotely possible.

Lohar holds her hands out and a hush comes over the crowd as she steps onto the stage. She gives a short speech, then gestures back to Luke and Leia, eliciting a roar of approval from the audience again.

When neither Luke or Leia step forward, Lohar takes Luke's arm and pulls him up next to her. There's a light of severity in her eyes now. “Still you do not believe?” She slides her hand down, interlacing their fingers, and closes her eyes. “Feel it with me, Luke. Feel the truth.”

At first, there's nothing... and then, like a piercing blue light ripping through darkness, Luke senses Lohar through the Force. She's not a shimmering, tenuous tendril like he usually feels, but almost sharp and jagged, cutting her way through. It's unmistakably Force-use.

It doesn't, however, convince him of her truth.

Watching, Leia furrows her brow. Lohar eventually looks behind her, then reaches her hand out to Leia as well. Wanting to be included in Luke’s experience, and feeling she has nothing to lose, Leia joins the two, closing her eyes, reaching into the Force like Luke has taught her.

She feels Luke’s energy coming across Lohar. She focuses on that, letting herself drift into him, losing separation, like on the shuttle. This time, she lets it happen.

“Good,” Lohar says. “This is a part of it.”

To Luke, Leia feels as she always has, warm and welcoming, tender and soft but edged with a shell of hardness. With Lohar between them, though, it's as though a filter has been laid over the feelings between them. Everything is twisted and distorted, but not grotesquely or unrecognizably.

Lohar laughs, a short, sharp barking sound. “You are strong, boy!” Her Force strength suddenly magnifies, realigning them, pulling Luke's essence to one side and Leia's to the other, with herself as a huge, central spiral in the middle. Around them, the noise from the crowd seems to fade away as Lohar somehow begins to push and pull at Luke and Leia's essences.

She lines them up, using herself as the measuring stick, pulling them around like taffy. She lines them up, matching identical pieces, one-by-one, until their stretching out and out and out, fitting together, piece-after-piece, like a zipper stretching into the horizon.

It’s just because we’re twins, Leia thinks, but, at the same time, she knows it’s also their shared joys and suffering, the ways they’ve taken care of each other, the ways they’ve been each other’s light in the darkest times. What she and Luke are to each other, the way they’re capable of interlocking in the Force like this—it’s earned and learned as much as it’s innate. They’ve worked for it. They’ve created it.

Once they’re completely interlocked, Leia feels herself and Luke start to glow with metaphysical warmth, and it’s one glow, that they share, that they’re only capable of together.

She isn’t sure how it happens, but, after a long moment, when Leia opens her eyes, she’s holding Luke’s hand, and Lohar is standing off to one side, smiling in satisfaction.

Luke finds himself opening his eyes in unison with Leia, and his first instinct is to pull away, as though scalded, but it's followed immediately by the stronger desire to hold on and never let go to this precious thing he's found. He's centered. He's whole. He's radiant and brilliant, and it's because of Leia's hand in his, and whatever Lohar just did.

The audience is still in front of them, cheering as if they'd seen it all unfold as clearly as Luke and Leia had. Maybe they did. All Luke knows is that he's speechless, overwhelmed and...

… happy.

Leia’s heart is pounding, and she can tell Luke’s is, too—her calm, centered, focused _Luke’s_ heart is pounding. She tightens her hand around his almost reflexively, unable to look anywhere but at him.

Lohar says something to the crowd again, and they cheer, then a band starts playing, and the crowd continues to shout and applaud, which gradually dissolves into singing and dancing.

“You see it now,” Lohar says. “This is what I say to them.”

Luke wants to say he doesn't see it. He doesn't agree... but he feels it. He knows. He's always known, and always denied it. Yet what good does knowing do? What can they do but to continue on the way they always have, denying themselves?

Lohar shakes her head. “I will collect you again for dinner. Go back to your rooms.”

The last thing Luke wants is to be alone with Leia again right now, and yet it is also the only thing he wants. Two attendants guide them back off the stage, and Luke's eyes rarely leave Leia, gliding along, still hand-in-hand, until he finds himself back in the spacious rooms Lohar assigned them. The attendants make themselves scarce, leaving the twins alone and together.

Leia feels breathless and... if she’s being honest, a little aroused, and that realization embarrasses her. But she can’t bring herself to let go of Luke’s hand. “We have... to talk about this,” she says, and her mouth feels dry and awkward.

Luke hasn't tried to draw any Jedi calming techniques to him since Lohar led them on stage, and he finds himself out of breath and nervous like he used to be in when he was younger. It's both exhilarating and terrifying to let himself feel everything so viscerally. He swallows hard before replying to her. “You... saw it? Felt all of it? Whatever she did?”

She nods. “We... just sort of... fit together. It feels....” She lets out a breath, trying to calm herself. “It feels wonderful. But... it doesn’t mean what she thinks it does. It can’t.” She feels as if she’s arguing with herself more than Luke or Lohar. “It’s because we’re twins, and because we’ve known each other so long and been through so much.” Her hand is still in his. She carefully steps a little closer.

Luke's not so convinced anymore that it's just twinness. He can feel how all the pieces fit together. Two halves of a whole. It's that they're twins, but there's more. As she steps closer, he swears he can feel the heat radiating off her body, and longs to feel it pressed against his. The very thought makes his chest ache in desire, but he doesn't give in. “Even if it's true,” he starts to say, unsure of how to finish the sentence. “Once we leave this place...”

Leia shakes her head. “You can’t even be... suggesting....” What does it matter when they leave? It’s wrong here, as well. She was never bothered that it was illegal, not really. She was worried that it made her a monster.

Finally, at last, Luke lowers his eyes, unable to look at her. He'd been sure she... but she's right. They can't even entertain the idea. It's a nice thought, though. Just knowing it. They don't have to act on it, or do anything different or more than they have in the past. Nothing has changed.

They're still holding hands, and Luke moves to unlace their fingers. “I didn't mean...” He shakes his head. “It was just an interesting experience, that's all.”

“Luke....” Leia says mournfully, wishing they were still touching, “I am yours, you know. In a way I’ll never be anyone else’s. I didn’t need a matchmaker to tell me that.”

“I know,” Luke says, and it's like saying goodbye; shutting the door. “We've always known we had something special. Nothing has changed.”

So why does it feel like the whole universe has shifted?

After an awkward hour of stumbling when they try to discuss it further, they decide it would be best if they go out into the city looking for other Force users, as had been their original intention. They wear cloaks and hoods, hoping not to be recognized as the hyper-compatible offworlders from last night and this morning and slip into the crowd. Luke’s still determined to bring a student home, and Leia’s determined to distract herself to help him look.

Unfortunately, the only strong signal Luke picks up—over and over again—is from Lohar. Every time she makes a new match, her energy in the Force spikes. If there are other Force users like her in the city, they're not as strong, or their energies are drowned out by hers.

“I don't think we have a choice but to go back and ask her to help us,” Luke says after they've finished a light lunch from a street vendor. “We don't leave until she promises to help us.”

While Leia recognizes that Luke might be right, she's not optimistic about getting much out of the old woman besides further insistence that she and Luke belong together. She's not sure what more they have to go on, though. If she's the head matchmaker, then it stands to reason she's the most Force-sensitive being on this planet, or at least the one with the greatest overlap between ability and cultivation. The matchmakers must have students; they must know how to spot Force abilities in others. They'll tell her their story, get her to appreciate what they've been through to insure the future of the Jedi.

They return to the matchmaker's residence and their suite and call for Lohar. She's with another couple— _another_ , Leia thinks, unbelieving that anyone would call her and Luke a couple—but she will be with them in an hour or two.

Leia takes the opportunity to utilize the soaking pool in the courtyard, glad she brought a bathing suit, glad it's not too revealing. She doesn't even mention to Luke that she's doing it, because she doesn't want him to think for a moment that he's invited to join her, or that she's doing it in any way for his benefit.

Luke has sat himself down at the table in the main room, pouring over maps of the city to figure out where they've been and where there is left to explore. If this afternoon's session with Lohar doesn't produce any more results, he wants to do a final sweep of the city, and then move on. There's another big city, called Mimar, about two hundred kilometers to the west, and a smaller city called Penas about fifty kilometers north. Both claim to have matchmaking masters, though neither as renowned as Lohar. “For once, I wish—” Luke looks up, realizing he's talking to an empty room. Leia's nowhere to be seen, and after a moment, curiosity gets the better of him and he finds himself padding, barefoot, after her presence, ending up outside.

She's in the soaking pool, eyes closed, looking relaxed and peaceful, though Luke can feel her inner turmoil. He doesn't want to disturb her, but he finds himself just standing at the edge, looking down at her. Her face is serene, but her hair is still twisted up in its complicated braids.

Leia feels him watching, tries to ignore him, and finally opens her eyes. "Yes?" she asks, not annoyed, but wishing he'd either speak or leave her be.

Luke feels as though he's been caught red-handed, and he's not sure why. “I was just thinking,” he says, “for once, I almost wish we'd brought Threepio. We could use a good translator right now.” He lowers his gaze. “How's the water?”

"Wonderful," Leia sighs. It is helping her relax, a little. "Just hot enough to make me feel like all the tension is just melting out of me." Self-consciously, she realizes that it would be rude to say something like that and then not invite him—but it also feels strange, after what they've been through the past couple days. "Do you want to get in?" she asks, her voice uncharacteristically timid. The pool's fairly big, she reasons with herself. Ten people could sit in it and not touch. There's no reason Luke shouldn't join her.

Luke smiles somewhat sadly, knowing the question is an afterthought, and one only offered out of politeness. Things have changed, even if they keep pretending they have. He shrugs. “I didn't bring a swimsuit. Anyway, I've been looking at where we can go next, if Lohar doesn't give us any leads.”

An image of Luke soaking naked invades Leia's thoughts and she has to blink to force it back. "Oh? I think we should only work on her until tomorrow—we shouldn't waste too much time here. She seems fairly... focused."

“I agree.” He returns inside for a moment to gather his datapad. Then, after a moment of hesitation, rolls up the legs of his pants and sits at the edge of the water by her, so he can soak his feet and show her the two nearby cities. “Both are said to have a master matchmaker. Perhaps one without as much fame as Lohar will be more willing to help us out. Lohar really wants to push... _us_ because, I think, it would add to her fame. Maybe another matchmaker would be less vain.”

Leia purses her lips. "Or more. Trying to catch up with Lohar." Luke's knee is close, and she has the sudden urge to rest her head on it. She would have, until yesterday, maybe even until this morning. She shakes her head. "I shouldn't have come with you."

Luke feels her desire, or thinks he does, and the way she's resisting. It's the same resistance he's had, as well. The knowledge that things they would've done in innocence last week now feel forbidden and taboo. “I'm glad you're here,” he says, truthfully. “I love spending time with you. If you want to go back, though... you can take the shuttle. I can find a transport in a few weeks or when I'm done here...”

Leia had almost suggested the same, but the idea of being separated from Luke is suddenly _horrible_ , and she shakes her head, trying not to look too insistent. "No, no... I want to help. And I won't leave you stranded, you know that." She looks up at him, his soft eyes staring down at her with an unreadable expression, something like fear and sadness and confusion and, beneath it all, love. "I love spending time with you, too. Honestly, we should do this more often." She laughs. "Well, maybe not _this_."

Luke knows what she means, and smiles. “I'd like that.” They spend a little longer in the water, looking over the city, making plans for tomorrow, and the future, getting comfortable with being close but not touching, not crossing that line.

Eventually, Luke gets out of the water and changes clothes while Leia has a quick shower and redresses. He'll be a little sad to leave the sumptuous apartments they've been given as guests, but it will be nice to function on their own terms again, where they can get separate beds and maybe even separate rooms. “I'm ready when you are,” Luke calls from the main room once she comes out of the shower, freshly washed and dressed.

She is ready, and Lohar must know it somehow, because she sends for them. The pair join the matchmaker in a candlelit dining room down the hall, where they're served a small but rich dinner of local delicacies. "Some say that the...." She stumbles over a word, then finds it. "The herbs in this dish are aphrodisiac," she explains.

Leia swallows carefully, trying to decide whether she should put her fork down.

"Is that word? Aphrodisiac?"

"I think that's probably what you meant, yes," Leia answers softly.

Luke finds himself staring at Lohar. “Hopefully not. That would be very rude to serve your guests without disclaiming.”

Lohar laughs it off. "It is superstition, only. Please, do not offend."

"Lohar," Leia says, as patiently as she can, "I don't think you understand why my _brother_ and I have come to your world. We're looking for children and youths to train in the traditions of Force use among our people."

“Yes, yes. I know. You have told.” Lohar happily eats her food. When she swallows, she says, “I will do as you ask. I will give you a child strong in what you call the Force. One you can take back with you. It is truth,” she says with a solemn nod, then gestures toward their bowls. “Eat, eat. I will give you the child. But you must eat, and then we will see. I have invited some couples I have matched to meet you. This child you take back with you... they should know the art of Mabion matchmaking... and so I will teach it to you, so you may teach to them. It is deal. Okay?”

Luke glances at Leia, but he senses no deceit from the woman, only benign eccentricities. Truthfully, he's curious about her matchmaking technique, as well. It's certainly a use of the Force he has no experience with. Learning how it's done can only help him broaden his understanding of the Force. “I agree, if Leia does...”

As strange and uncomfortable as the experience has been, Leia knows it's been interesting and valuable for both her and Luke to see what Lohar's capable of. Whatever happened this morning was not a trick—it was real, though they may disagree on the reason or interpretation. She hadn't even felt it when Lohar traded her own hand for Luke's. "I agree. It seems reasonable that the child should understand the culture they came from."

“Good. Good!” Lohar nods, smiling, her eyes twinkling. 

They finish their food, both Luke and Leia a bit cautiously, and then Lohar leads them into another room where six couples have gathered, each sitting on cushions in the room. Two of the couples look fairly normal—a man and a woman each. One couple is made up of two men. The other three couples are made up of two different aliens. One ‘couple’ is actually _three_ different aliens. “These couples,” she says, “are famous. My famous matches. Long time together, each of them. Many children for some.” She leans close, nodding toward the first couple. “They are brother sister, too. Six children. Very happy.” She winks and draws Luke over, knowing Leia will follow. “Sit. Learn.”

Leia follows Luke, wondering if it's true that the couple are siblings, wondering if they grew up together, hoping their children are well, thinking, strangely, about her conversation with Han when he'd shut down at the mention of _maybe_ having a baby _someday_ and how her heart had ached and still aches because he'd been so unreceptive. How wonderful for them to be together and both want so many children. To agree. To know, already, that they will, because Lohar matched them.

She thinks, for the first time, that she might understand how 'the match' can be the governing religious and social structure on Mabion.

“They do not know the Basic,” Lohar says. “But it is not problem. Our heart knows truth.” She sits between Luke and Leia, taking one of their hands each in hers, and opens the channel to the Force through her—the sharp spike. Like yesterday, she shows them the two halves before them. Not Luke and Leia this time, but of the siblings sat before them. She pairs them together, using herself as the measuring stick once more. Not every set is matched, and the line she makes is a fraction as long as Luke and Leia's, but it's well over eighty percent when she finishes.

They go through all six couples in the same manner, with Lohar showing how she sorts and matches the couples, eventually urging Luke and Leia to try; to feel the way unmatching pieces repel—like magnets—and how matching pieces naturally snap together. As they work together, it becomes easier and easier, with an almost dream-like quality.

When they come to the final pair, Lohar says, “My most famous. Before you.” They take twice as long to match because so many pieces fit together, and the line they make is twice as long as the line of the siblings, stretching out of sight by the time they have finished. “A good alignment is fifty connections,” Lohar says, at long last. The sun has set and the room is golden with lamplight. “All in this room have over one-hundred, and Gulgahth and Amaroin here have three-hundred fifty-two.” She fixes both Luke and Leia with a serious, piercing gaze. “You two must have ten thousand. I could not count so high.”

Leia felt all of it, saw all of it, knows that something in what Lohar says is true, but she is still resisting, so she says, "Luke and I disagree all the time."

"Is not always same that is compatible," she says. "Some things are best different. That is why the match is a skill, you must learn and feel which things should be same and which things should be different. You two raised different, yes? Then you are different. But inside same. Outside different in ways that help. When he is afraid, you are strong. When you are hurt, he care of you. When one of you dream, the other work. When one keep open mind, other stay careful. This keeps you balance."

"I know," Leia finds herself whispering.

Sensing they are close to understanding, but still not convinced, Lohar says, “Consider. Anything you want... he want. Anything she want, you want. Either both want, or want supporting it. Share your dream to each other. It is always compatible. You are perfect aligned. The real dream. Not the work desire, not the hiding true self. The real dream inside you. It is the same. If you do not embrace it...” She shakes her head sadly. “It is greatest tragedy. And for no reason.” Her eyes drift to the first couple―the happy brother and sister. “Perhaps... you can stay here, on Mabion, if it is easier. You always be accepted.”

That's all it would take. Just the two of them staying there, and then they wouldn't have to feel guilty or confused or conflicted or like their feelings were wrong.... Leia realizes she's gazing at Luke, and looks away suddenly.

Lohar smiles gently. “Before you go back to the rooms and have the talk you need to talk, is there any question? These couple agree to answer you.”

Luke's been gazing at Leia too, turning over a million thoughts in his head, but finally redirects his attention to the others in the room. Maybe only two or three of them look like natives. “They've... they've all chosen to live here? Because of the match?”

“Yes. Because of the match. We accept all, if the truth is shown.”

Leia looks back at Luke, sees him gazing at her, and she wets her lips. She feels like she's under a spell. "Let's go talk. Okay?"

The walk back to the rooms passes without Luke even really noticing, all he's aware of is that suddenly he and Leia are alone. If what Lohar said is true, and he's starting to believe it's true, then no matter what he says, Leia will agree. It's a headying thought knowing she'll accept him if he asks, and also that she will keep a stiff upper lip and deny everything if that's what he wants. It's part of the compatibility.

He decides to tests the waters before diving in. “I don't want to stay here forever.”

Leia's instinct is to check the door to make sure it's locked, but she knows it is—and, besides, Lohar _wants_ them to be alone and undisturbed. Of course no one will come in if anything...intense happens. "Of course not," Leia says. "I just...the fact that the thought even occurred to me made me realize...."

_Realize what?_ she asks herself.

"I've been thinking," Leia says. "Your student, or students, when you get them. If they're little kids, and even if they're not, I want to help you. You're basically going to be raising them. They'll need...."

"Family," Luke says. "I've prepared to go it alone but if I could have help, especially your help... Leia, I always thought you'd be my first student. I know your path has guided you differently, but I could teach you. We could teach each other... and the children."

Leia nods, her heart beating stronger. “I should be your student. I always acted as if I didn’t have time, or it was too hard for me to focus. But you know that wasn’t why, Luke. It’s because of how easily I fall into you, when I open up to the Force. But if we can be honest about it, it might be okay.” She takes a chance and steps towards him, putting her hands on his waist and her head on his shoulder. “You want that? A family?” She’s ached for once since Alderaan.

Everything in Luke is tensing to bolt, but he fights it down. He remembers watching the pieces of themselves clicking together, and Lohar's words echo around in his head. Is it really true? Whatever he wants, she wants, or will compliment? “Yes,” he finally says, not sure exactly what that might mean. “I grew up without parents, or siblings... I always thought I'd get a chance when I was older. I didn't foresee becoming a Jedi.”

“The old Jedi didn’t do that,” Leia says, so glad she’s touching him, but not daring to press her whole body to his. “They thought it was wrong to form strong emotional attachments.”

“I'm not like the old Jedi,” Luke says. He hasn't wrapped his arms around her yet, but he starts to, lightly. He's still testing the waters. “What about you?”

“I told you last night,” she says, lifting her face to look at him. “I want that so much it got in my and Han’s way. Because... we weren’t compatible,” she finishes with a self-conscious scoff. “I want... a house full of kids. They don’t have to be mine. They can be your students. As long as we raise them.”

Luke swallows. Maybe that would be enough. It'd certainly be more than anything he ever expected. “What about the New Republic? Your work? I don't even know where I'd build a temple.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Maybe my work would be better given to the Jedi. Or maybe I can work from the temple, wherever it is. I think we can cross that bridge when we come to it. We’ll find a way.” Leia licks her lips. “I do... want a baby, though.” It doesn’t have to be hers, she insists again to herself. “Maybe somewhere there’s a Force-sensitive infant out there who needs a home....”

Luke studies her face, her fine features, the little wisps of hair curling around her temple, the curve of her nose, the quirk of her lips. A little the little features he forced himself to stop looking at after his last trip to Dagobah. She's so beautiful it makes his chest hurt like he's watching her hologram again for the first time. They're negotiating. They're making plans. They're actually falling into this. “I never stopped loving you,” he hears himself say, and it rings into the empty air, and only the knowledge that perhaps she has felt the same way keeps him going. “In ways I shouldn't. If I could spend the rest of my life with you, in your presence... even if we never...” He doesn't know how to quite finish that sentence. “Either way. If we're so compatible, then either way would be more than fine...” He feels his fingers tightening slightly on her waist.

She nods. He’s right. “If we’re so perfectly aligned, then we’ll find a way that makes us both happy, as long as we’re honest,” she says. His eyes are so soft but intent, his lips so full; he smells good. “I love you. I would have been yours in a second if you’d ever really tried. I needed that from you. You weren’t ready, and then it was too late.”

“I'm yours,” he says, and in saying it he realizes how much he means, it, and how much he's always meant it. He's only been hiding it before. “Anything you want, I'll give it to you.” Perhaps that's why they're so compatible. She could ask nothing of him he wouldn't give.

Her breath catches in her throat, and she pulls his body against hers. “All I ever wanted was for you to tell me what _you_ want.” She laughs. They’re both idiots. “And for it to be me. And for you to be sure about that, and not afraid.”

“It is you. It's always been you...” He can't believe this is really happening, and yet it feels like the only true thing he's said to her in maybe years. “And I'm not afraid. Not of you. Not of what some might say, or think...” He feels his confidence growing as he speaks, sensing her rising emotions paralleling his own. “If you feel for me even a fraction what I feel for you... I want you, Leia. Every part of you.”

Leia laughs in spite of her fear and excitement. “A fraction?! Luke...we feel the same. The _same_. We always have.”

He shakes his head. “No... no. That's not possible. We're not the _same_ , we're just... highly compatible... Aligned. There's no way you...” He laughs, shaking his head, feeling almost jittery from nerves.

She smiles brightly at him, for him. “What? You don’t think there’s any way I love you as much as you love me? That I would want you as much as you want me?”

He's trapped in her eyes, lost in her smile, drowning happily in her attention, in the weight he feels in his arms. It's electric, and growing stronger the more they tease each other. “But you've never...” She had, a little, back before they knew. “But not like...” Not as if he'd been posting banners about his feelings, either. “I never knew...”

“I wanted you to... to court me. To seduce me, when we were younger. And then I tried to hide it, after that. I was supposed to, wasn’t I?” She’s not sure anymore. She shakes her head. “I think we both want to be seduced.” This room is supposed to help, isn’t it? she thinks, looking around. Her eyes fall on the soaking pool, steaming in the moonlight. With a satisfied smile, she takes Luke’s hand and pulls him into the private courtyard. “The night I showed you that waterfall on Yavin IV, I was trying to seduce you. Did you know that?”

“Yes,” Luke says, then, after a moment. “No. Not at the time. I thought you couldn't possibly be...” He laughs, feeling as nervous as he had back then. Maybe even more so. “I didn't think you could want me back then, either... what did I have to give you? The woman who had lost everything...” He knows what he can give her now, though. Security. A family. Love everlasting. That's all she's ever wanted, he realizes. Nothing more.

Stepping out of his slippers, he picks Leia up suddenly. Her shoes tumble to the ground, and, fully clothed, he lowers them both into the water, laughing and holding Leia as she struggles against him. Once in the hot water, holding her in his lap, so close together can feel her breath against his lips, he says, “If we do, we can't go back...”

Leia’s laugh is almost a giggle, and she doesn’t stop at his words. “I know. Why? Are you worried I’ll break your heart?” She rights herself in the water and awkwardly unbuckles her wet belt, throwing it onto the tile floor at the side of the pool. When she stands in the shallow water, his arms still around her, her thin, wet dress clings to her body, and she knows Luke can tell she has nothing else on under it. “I won’t.”

His hands are on her hips again, palms flat, feeling, pressing, worshiping. He wants to peel her dress off; to see everything she's kept hidden from him. His eyes lift to her face. “Promise me. I know it's stupid... just... promise me.” He thinks he'll be destroyed if she ever changes her mind and all the Jedi warnings will come true.

She’s already helping him inch her skirt up. “I promise. I want you to promise, too.” Her face is close to his again, and she feels an urgency coming over her.

“I promise. I promise,” he says, pushing her skirt up, and as soon as his hands touch her bare thighs, the rest comes out in a rush. “I love you. I've always loved you. There's no one else... there could never be anyone else. Leia. Leia...” The dress isn't off, but he drags her to him, straddling him, and crushes their mouths together in a kiss of desperation and hunger like he's never known.

Leia whimpers into his mouth, a desperate and trembling moan of need and completion. She’s so overwhelmed she could cry, but she doesn’t have the time. She has to make up for over five years of knowing Luke and not having this with him. “I love you,” she echoes between kisses and nips when her lips move to his neck and jaw. “It was always you. I should have told you.” She feels his arousal through his pants, but still holds back, out of wanting to savor this moment she’s waited for her whole life. They can’t rush it—and after all, they have time. All night. The rest of their lives. Instead, she guides Luke’s hands to touch her breasts through her dress.

Luke touches her, feeling her surge against him when he does, and it's like she's touching him, too. The feeling is more intense than anything he's ever experienced before. His hands become firmer, his thumbs finding the buds that have risen despite the warm water, rolling them until they're firm and hard.

Leia moans again, then bites hard against Luke’s neck, claiming him. She helps him out of his wet shirt, then trails kisses down his chest, nipping his nipples gently, and feeling like it’s his teeth on her. She blinks in confusion and looks up at him. “I can feel it when I touch you,” she breathes, then claims his mouth again in a deep, impassioned kiss.

Luke kisses her back, feeling even more intense with his shirt off. He feels it too, the mixture of his touches and hers on both their bodies. It's indescribable. “I feel it, too.” When he breaks the kiss this time, it's to nip at her neck and collar, tasting her skin, reveling in it, and feeling it on his own neck. He's never tasted anything so good. “More,” he begs, and his hands on her hips, pull her closer, over the bulge in his trousers. “I want all of you, Leia... Let me love you.”

“I want to see you first,” she begs, noticing that she can’t stop smiling whenever their lips aren’t kissing each other. She’s never been so happy. “All of you. Take these off.” She reaches for the waistband of his pants.

He's breathing so hard he can hardly believe it, but he does as she asks, lift his hips, with her still straddling his thighs, and unfastens his pants. The underwear comes off with it, and he has to use the Force a little to help him kick them free, catching them and throwing them onto the tile by her belt. His cock is hard and heavy, and aching. “You too.” He pulls at her wet dress again, helping her pull it over her head and out of the water.

She sheds the dress gladly, staying in perched on her knees over his lap. Gazing down at him, she beams. “Hi,” she says, moving closer to him slowly, their skin like silk on silk, his embrace like home, and she kisses him again.

His hands on her body this time have no obstructions. He can glide his fingers over her skin like he's dreamed of doing a million times in his dreams. He kisses her deeper, tasting her essences, and feeling her tongue against his makes his cock bob for attention. His exploration of his body eventually takes his hands down to her thighs, and back, to grip her buttock. He pulls her closer, still kissing her, knowing now that come what may, they both want— _need_ —the taboo connection they're about to finally give in to.

Leia looks into his eyes and nods. She’s sure.

“I love you,” he says, or maybe only thinks it, but he knows they're thinking it together, feeling it together, experiencing everything together.

He slides his hand between them, holding himself firm and she moves forward the rest of the way. There's no fumbling or awkwardness. They were made for this; they are compatible in all ways. The moment his body touches her wetness, he surges up into her, opening her up, claiming her, taking her. His mouth is on hers again as she returns the action, each desperately, lovingly claiming more and more of each other.

Leia cries out in pleasure and emotional fulfillment, feeling their bodies become one for the first time, something that should have happened years ago, but she also knows that this moment is better for the long road they had to travel to get here. It’s nothing like any lovemaking she’s ever experienced—it’s all-encompassing, and she can feel everything align, and he can feel everything, and Luke is so tender, yet so demanding. She returns his motions and kisses and bites and caresses in turn, and after a few moments, she isn’t ever really sure who’s doing what.

The resistance from the water, or the lack of it, becomes too unbearable after a few minutes, and the heat of the water too strong. Luke lifts her, still held in place, and moves them just to the ground outside the hot tub. The big soft bed, the rich carpets and plush pillows are forgotten. He takes her on the tile, their bodies steaming in the cool night, and neither of them feel the cold or discomfort at all. He rocks into her, kisses her, worships her, lifting and angling her body against until he knows he's found the angle she likes because she tells him so in her mind, through the Force, via the connection they innately share. His thrusts become more passionate, more intense as he feels himself nearing the end sooner than he wants.

But it's okay. This is just the first time. He knows there will be many more to come.

She senses his slight misgiving, and whispers sweetly, “Come for me. We can do it as many times as we want.” She kisses him, arching against his body as her own end starts to come over her, unable to hold off as she feels him start to come.

“Leia,” he gasps, the word drawn out of him by the way her body pulses against his, and as she tumbles over the edge she pulls him with her. His hands dig into her hips, dragging her down as he beings to unload, and the realization of what he's doing hits him and makes him release even harder, deeper inside her. “Leia!” he cries, burying himself as deep as possible as he finishes, panting and gasping and still rocking his hips as she works her body to empty him inside her.

Her name on his lips draws another orgasm out of her on the tails of the first, and she wraps her legs around his hips, keeping his body close, making sure he comes as deep inside her as possible.

Feather-light, she feels herself floating in him in the afterglow, the same feeling she’s had when she loses herself in meditation, and realizes that she’s never been losing anything, just joining him.

When the light fades and Luke finds himself again, he has tears in his eyes, not just water from the spa. They're still on the tile, Leia on her back, her legs wrapped around him, holding him in place. It's the best feeling in the world, holding her afterward, feeling her warmth and need. There's no shame or fear after the intensity of the moment has passed. He feels light and whole.

He gathers her in his arms, holding her the way he's been aching too and the way he knows she's been longing to be held, and kisses her lightly, over and over again.

Leia’s sobbing. She can’t believe it was that easy, after all this time. They could have done that years ago. They could have been together all along. They’ve been so foolish. “I feel as if I only just found you,” she says into the crook of Luke’s neck as she cries. “We have a lot of time to make up for.”

They stay like that for a long time, but Leia’s not sure how long. Eventually, they’re standing and laughing and gathering up their wet clothes. Leia finds she’s starving—her whole body and soul feel like they’re waking up—and she takes some fruit and cheese to the big bed, and she and Luke sit and snuggle and she kisses berries out of his fingers and kisses his lips with their juice still on her own. She’s never felt more like celebrating in her whole life. “Who have you been with, before me?” Leia asks, feeling nosy, but realizing that she has no idea.

Luke laughs at the question, but he's not offended or surprised. There's very little they don't know about each other, but that's one area Leia's in the dark. “Are you jealous?” he teases, running his hand along the curve of her waist. His eyes are shining. “There have only been a few... a few kisses from eager girls. I went to bed with two of them, or tried... I mean... it was... we managed. It just wasn't...” He looks at her, swallowing at the intensity of her states, the depths and love radiating out. “It never felt right... There was always something missing.”

Leia nods knowingly. "I loved Han. I still do. I probably always will. But... he was right. It always felt off. It felt as if we thought it would work just because we wanted it to. Because it seemed romantic to have been thrown together during the war. But...." She sighs. "I knew how I felt about you, though I never let myself think about it. And I knew there was someone specific out there for me. And I knew that when I found you, something inside me was healed that had always been raw. But I didn't put those three things together, not really."

“How could we have known?” Luke kisses her again, softly and more intimately. How cruel the galaxy has been to them... taking their families away, separating them, only to let them find each other again and fall in love without the ability to be together. He studies her face again, drinking in every detail. He's so used to forcing himself to look away before she notices him staring. It feels like he's going to get burned the intensity is so strong, but the heat never comes. Only love and acceptance. “Do you... do you want to stay here?” he finally asks. “I could probably build a temple here.” It's not where he wants to be, out on the edge of the galaxy, but suddenly it feels like the safer solution. They could stay here, in safety and peace. No one would question their relationship here.

She shakes her head. "No, and neither do you. But does that mean we're just going to keep it a secret?"

“I don't know.” He kisses her again. Then once more, for good measure. “If we have to...” He studies her face. “How many people know? Too many, perhaps...”

Leia sighs. "We'll figure it out. I'm not worried.” She kisses his temple and his forehead, holding him. "It's no one's business, anyway."

Luke knows they'll figure it out. Even if it has to be a secret, they'll make it work. There's no doubt in his mind. And yet... “It's not... it's not completely uncommon on Tatooine. Usually cousins and not siblings, but... there aren't laws like there are in the Core.” He laughs softly to himself. He really is a hick from a backwater planet after all. “Not that I want to go back to Tatooine, but... well, you'd know better than me. Are there... are there worlds near the Core that are more lenient?”

She shakes her head. "Not towards siblings. Not at all. The Core isn't quite one mono-culture, but it's not far off. I'd go to Tatooine with you," she says. "As long as we'd be helping the Republic with our work, I'd go anywhere with you. Anywhere you asked."

He sits up more. “Then maybe we should stay here...” It's so far away from everything, but they'd be free. They wouldn't have to hide. “I'll follow _you_ anywhere.” He caresses her face. “We'll figure it out. Somehow.”

Leia smiles softly at him, then wraps her body around his again, kissing him deeply and slowly. The urgency of earlier is gone, leaving behind a passionate appreciation and amazement that they could really be together the way they wanted to be at long last. "Will you be with me forever?" she whispers.

“Forever,” he breathes, meeting her gaze with no hesitation. “Long after our bodies are gone, I'll still be yours. You know that.” He lifts her hand and places it over his heart, feeling how his beats together in time with hers. “Forever as one.”

She kisses him again as soon as the words are out of his mouth, guiding his hand between her legs. "Feel what you're doing to me," she breathes.

Luke does, keeping his eyes locked on hers as he lets his fingers explore her in a way he didn't get to before, in the water. “I want to learn everything about you,” he breathes, touching her getting him worked up again. “I want to memorize every millimeter. I want to taste and touch all of you.” He looks down at last, having not really allowed himself that taboo before, and lets out a soft groan as she spreads her legs to give him a better view. His fingers find her harden little nub, stroking slowly, teasing. “You're incredible.”

Leia moans, then kisses him deeply. "You have time," she says, then lies back and lets him gaze down at her body, trailing her fingers down his stomach to his cock. "Do you want me again?"

“Yes,” he immediately breathes, moving up. “Force, yes.” His cock does the talking for him, and soon they're locked again in another passionate embrace, which is somehow more powerful and longer-lasting than the one that came before.

It's night when they finish, dozing in bed on and off. Time is meaningless. There is only them, floating in contentment on the massive, soft bed in each other's arms. At some point, they shower and crawl back into bed, kissing and touching and sleeping and dozing until dawn, when they make love again in the light of the new day.


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast arrives in the other room, carried by attendants who don't enter the bedroom, and they lay in bed another hour before finally pulling on robes and going to eat. Everything is perfect, warm and cozy. Glowing.

“Lohar is going to know,” he says with a wry grin.

Leia’s grin matches his exactly as she slowly eats her breakfast. “I know,” she says softly, brightly. She leans forward and places a kiss below Luke’s ear. “Should we give her the satisfaction of admitting it? I can admit I was wrong.”

“We have to. She deserves it.” He pushes his chair closer to her, so they can touch while eating. “I want to tell her thank you. Thank you for pushing us. For showing us...” It's incredible to think just this time yesterday they were so opposed to the idea, and now it feels so right. So normal and natural. They would have never gotten here without her insistence.

Some of the sweet cream filling from a sticky breakfast roll gets on Luke’s finger, and Leia takes his hand and sucks the cream off, making seductive eye contact with him. “I guess you’re right. Maybe we would have gotten there eventually, but... I was in such denial. We owe her our happiness.”

When she's done with his finger, he slides his hand into her robe, so he can cup her breast and run his thumb over her nipple. “We certainly wouldn't be here now without her guidance.” Abandoning his breakfast he goes to kiss her neck.

Leia moans gently, unable to stop smiling. “You know exactly how to touch me,” she whispers. “But we need to focus,” she adds against all of her instincts. “We came here to find you a student. We need to leave our suite at some point....”

Luke groans against her neck, but slowly with draws his hand. She's right, of course. “Tonight,” he says, as a warning and a promise. Finished with breakfast, he gets up before her bounty temps him back again, pulling on fresh clothes from the closet provided.

When Leia's ready a short time later—in a loose linen blouse and skirt that match Luke's tunic and trousers almost perfectly—they leave the suite hand-in-hand.

Attendants guide them to a room where Lohar sits, meditating on a cushion on the floor as if waiting for them. A broad smile is already on her face. Her eyes still closed, the old woman says, “You see how happy?”

“Thank you for giving us the push we needed,” Leia says humbly.

“It is job,” she answers easily, opening her twinkling eyes, looking back and forth between the new couple before her. “But something else you ask me?”

Luke and Leia move to kneel on the meditation pillows spread around her, still holding hands. “We came to Mabion in search of Force-sensitive users. We're still searching,” Luke says.

“Yes. I did not forget.” She eyes them each for a few moments. “You have patience. Wait a little longer.” She winks. “Trust Lohar.”

“We do now, thank you,” Luke says. “How long a wait do you expect there to be? Can I assist in the search in any way?”

“Not so very long now... Patience, Luke. Patience. Study matchmaking so you may teach it.”

The twins nod in unison.

Lohar teaches them first with words, describing how she finds the points to match, how she checks them to see if they fit. They meditate, and she shows them their own points again, lined up, stretching into the center of the universe. She shows them one of the exceedingly rare points where they do not match—one of only three she could locate, out of around ten thousand—and shows them what it feels like for the points to repel. “Try it,” she says to Luke. “Try you match me with Leia. See what happens.”

Luke turns the points over, feeling them, snapping them together, and then feeling the way the pieces repel when he tries to pair Lohar and Leia. Even they have places that match, but it takes a while to find pieces that snap together. It's incredible how easy it becomes after a little while.

Lohar smiles, satisfied. “Very good. Very strong, both of you, but Leia still learns much I think.”

“Luke’s teaching me,” she says. “I think I’ll learn a little more quickly, now that... we’ll be spending more time together.” She touches Luke’s arm, just to have contact, and feels that wonderful completion wash over her.

Luke feels it too, and nods. “We're so much stronger together. We will practice the matchmaking you've taught us, I promise, and teach our students.”

“I know you will.” Lohar smiles.

They spend a little longer letting Leia attempt the same skills Luke did, matching Luke and Lohar, and with Luke's help she manages to get the hang of it as well. It's the most Force use she's ever done in one day. They're wearied by the time they're done, and it's well past lunchtime.

“Rest now,” Lohar says. “My attendants will take you to eat. There is someone waiting for you.”

Luke's eyes widen, suddenly afraid. “Who?”

“No fear. Someone you will like. Go. Go!”

They go, and are led out into a gorgeous, green courtyard and are greeted by the brother and sister couple they met the day before—and all six of their children. One is currently nursing in the sister's arms.

A translator droid is nearby, and translates for the woman. “We didn't get to meet yesterday. My name is Maia and this is my match Buwa. It's so wonderful to meet you.”

Leia’s more nervous than she’d expected. She nestles her hand into the crook of Luke’s arm, reassured when he puts a warm, steady hand over her own. He really does compliment her perfectly. “I’m Leia, and this is Luke,” she says; though she knows the couple know their names, their introduction had not really been formal and personal. She has a lot of questions, but she’s instinctively drawn to the baby, and decides it’s as good a place to begin as any. “How old is she?”

“Three months,” she answers, and the droid translates. “Very healthy.”

Leia tries not to let her relieved sigh be audible. “Please don’t think I’m being rude, but...I’m glad to hear that she is healthy.”

"We have very modern facilities here on Mabion. We screen every baby, of course, but... of course the match provides. We knew we would have healthy children. If there is any problem, it isn't because we're really siblings."

Buwa steps up behind his wife and sister, sliding his arms around her and bending down to kiss the top of his child's head. "The Great Matchmaker said your matches rival the stars... It must cover all things. Even the creation of children."

Luke feels suddenly very warm though it's cool and pleasant in the courtyard. It seems unfathomable that the matches could predict even the genetics of children, but Luke knows it's part of the Force. Anything is possible.

The baby falls asleep, and Maia smiles at Leia knowingly. “Would you like to hold her?”

Leia nods, perhaps a little too eagerly, or perhaps just eagerly enough. The little bundle is transferred to her arms, and she stands beside Luke, holding her and blushing. She opens her mouth to say something to Luke, then stops because he’s looking at her like it doesn’t need to be said, at least not until later.

“You are welcome to stay here,” Buwa says through the translator, still holding his wife. “In Karr. We can help you settle. You will have no trouble finding work. Our doctors can be your doctors...”

“You're very generous,” Luke says. “Thank you.” He strokes the baby girl's hair, his heart melting as she smiles in her sleep. “It's all very new to us... we're still processing how to proceed with our future.” He lifts his eyes off the baby, smiling at the happy couple. “It's nice to have options.”

“We both have things back home we wouldn’t want to leave,” Leia says wistfully. “Things we’ve worked hard for. But until yesterday, I think we both thought that we couldn’t even love each other in private. Now we know we’ll find a way.” She shakes her head and rocks the baby a little. “I’ve never felt this sure of anything. Do you feel sure?”

Maia nods. “It was the same for us.”

“For us,” Buwa says, “there was no question. We could not stay on our world. Not if we hoped to have the love and family we desired. Here we are loved. Accepted. Our high match is proof to all here that this is the right choice. Whatever choice you make, be sure you go in it together.”

“We will,” Luke says. “From now on, we know. Wherever we belong, we belong there together.”

After a pleasant if intense lunch, Leia reluctantly parts from the baby and the other five children, with whom she’s become good friends, and walks slowly hand-in-hand with Luke back to their rooms. “Wasn’t she perfect?” Leia asks, in an uncharacteristically dreamy mood.

There were three girls in the bunch, and four if you count the mother, but Luke knows she's talking about the baby. “She was,” he says, though he thinks an even more perfect one might be possible. They don't have to dance around the subject anymore. Not if they're as compatible as all indications are showing. “I want to,” he says, somewhat quietly. “If everything medically checks out... I want to.”

An excited shiver runs a all through Leia, not just because of what he said, but also the fact that they really don’t need to have these barriers anymore. She stops and kisses him full on the lips right there in the corridor, then just gazes into his eyes for a moment. “Me too. As soon as we get home.”

Luke kisses her back, right there in the corridor. It doesn't matter who sees. They're free here. “Where's home?” he asks, and is genuine. It's not Tatooine or Alderaan. Is it Coruscant where they both have apartments they rarely use? “ _You're_ my home,” he says, staring into her eyes. 

Leia smiles broadly. “Then... why wait?”

He laughs. Somehow it feels like they should ask permission. But who? And why? There's no one stopping them. There's no one that even could. They arrive at their suites and he opens the door, heart beating faster. “ _Have_ we been waiting? Are you... ? Are you using something?”

She takes a breath and shakes her head, watching his reaction carefully. “What I was using with Han has probably worn off by now,” she admits. “I didn’t think of it in the moment. I’m sorry.”

Luke shakes his head, smiling. He cups her face and kisses her. “I love you.” Has he said that today? It never seems enough. It's something they should've talked about before, but he understands why it didn't happen, and even more than that he knows part of it is because of their compatibility. They hadn't discussed it, but they both already felt the same way about it, even if they hadn't admitted it to themselves. He pulls her inside their apartments, kissing her again, his hands on her hips, her waist. “Do you want a baby now, Leia?”

His words shoot right through her body, making her cunt throb and her knees weak. “Now?” She’s already pressing into him, already reaching for his waistband, already pushing him towards the bed. “Do you? You want me to make you a father?”

Luke feels his body respond too, and it's in a different way than when they've turned each other on before. It's more immediate and intense; it's purpose-driven. Making love to Leia is arousing and heady on it its own, but the thought of doing it specifically to impregnate her, to cross that absolute boundary and create the family he's always longed for with her... and knowing she wants it too... “Yes,” he breaths. It's all happening so fast, and yet he knows it's something they've both wanted since they were both old enough to want it, only now they're able to share that desire to each other. “I want to be a father... and you to be the mother. It's... Leia... it's been my deepest, darkest desire for years...”

She sits on the bed in front of him and pulls his pants off. “I used to think about that to get me through the night, during the war. Having your baby someday, when it was all over. Please,” she gasps, pulling him over her. “It’s what I’ve always wanted—I never thought I’d actually get it....”

“ _Leia_ ,” he gasps, stunned by her revelation. It's one thing to know they're compatible, but another entirely to hear her say it. To confirm that they've had the same kind of fantasies about each other for years. He hurriedly pulls her dress off, so rough he tears part of the sleeve, and pulls his shirt off in one fluid motion. He slides his cock against her folds just once, feeling how absolutely wet she is. He's already hard, but that gets him solid and firm. Making love this time feels so much more intense than the few times the day before.

He pushes the head of his cock into her tight folds, opening her up again, and they both moan and gasp together at the intensity and pleasure of it. “Take me into you,” he growls into her ear. “Take me all the way... as deep as you can, Leia...”

Leia takes him deep enough that he hits her cervix with every thrust, and she shudders with pleasure and happiness and the incredible awareness that _they’re trying to have a baby_. She’d argued with Han about it for weeks or months at the end, not trying to make him do anything he didn’t want to to but also trying to hold her ground about what she wanted, and it had been awkward and heartbreaking and like they were speaking different languages. And she and Luke barely even have to discuss it. They already feel exactly the same.

They make love with slow intention, with intense passion, with lots of kissing and lots of eye contact. When she can feel him getting close, she whispers, “Give me your baby, Luke....”

“Leia,” he whispers back, lifting his face to stare into her eyes. He feels how receptive she is to him, how much she wants it. They're so in sync, so compatible, so in love. She rolls her hips, whispers his name, and then he's releasing, deep inside her, filling her with his seed, willing it to find it's purpose and plant inside her. “Leia!” he cries out again. “Make a baby,” he gasps. “Make us a baby.”

Leia’s Force use is fumbling at best, but she closes her eyes as they come together, trying to draw upon her powers to help it along, to unite herself and Luke deep inside of her body, to combine the two of them into new life. She has no idea if it works, but when she opens her eyes, Luke is looking at her with such tenderness and such need and such joy that her heart feels full to bursting. “Luke,” she whispers, holding him, amazed. “I love you.”

He feels his body spasm again, drawn out by her words, and kisses her, slow and deep and soft as he continues to rock them, to wrap her tender use of the Force more firmly with his own, strengthening it, and the intent behind it. They're making a baby together. They're connecting on the deepest possible level, and all he can think is how radiant and brilliant it all is. How right and calm. How they were fools not see it before.

They stay for a long time, Luke still inside her, amazed at what’s happening and beyond content to hold one another and just bask in it. “Do you think it worked?” Leia asks at last, with a small laugh.

Luke gathers her in his arms, rolling onto his side to hold her close, wrapping her legs around him. “If not this time, then next time,” he says, “or the next time, or the next...” He studies her face up close, once again drinking in her beauty in all the ways he denied himself for years. “But I think it worked.”

Leia smiles, shivering with pleasure, and presses one of Luke’s hands to her belly, then looks into his beautiful eyes. “I’m nervous,” she admits, but if she is, her face and aura betray none of it. “But this is right.” She kisses him all over his face, her free hand caressing him, tangling in his hair, loving him. “Will you still think I’m beautiful when I’m pregnant and swollen and moody?”

He's nervous too, but confident all the same. Excited, more than anything, and in love. “Absolutely. Nothing could possibly make me happier... It might be a hard road, but we'll weather it together. We'll have a family. Our own. It won't matter what people will think of us. We'll know the truth.”

“I’m not worried about that. You don’t think we’re moving too fast?” She nips his neck, satisfied when she makes him growl.

He knows what she means. Two days ago they had a purely platonic relationship and had for years... now they're trying to get pregnant. “No,” he says, rocking into her again in response to her nip. “We're making up for lost time... We both know what we want, and it's the same for both of us. That's never going to change... and if it does, it will be because we both want it to.” He rocks into her again, slowly, but pointedly. “Do you think we're moving too fast?”

She shakes her head, and her soul feels light. “No, not at all. It just seems like it should be fast. This is right.” She smiles brightly. “This is the most right that anything has ever been....” She presses her hips into his, digging her nails into his back. “How many do you want? Six?” She laughs.

“Yes,” he says, his rocking becoming firmer as she digs her nails into him. “That's what you want too, isn't it?” he breathes. As soon as he saw Maia and Buwa with their half-dozen he knew he wanted his own. Not just the one baby girl, but all of them. The whole set of happiness. If he wants it so much he knows she does too, even if she's trying to cover her desire with a laugh, to play it off as a joke. Luke knows now. They're completely compatible.

“More,” she says, surprised at her own answer. “Seven, or eight. I don’t know. I don’t want to plan it, I want to feel it with you, to finally be able to listen to our desires.” She moans a little as she feels his body hardening. “Every day. To always listen, to always agree and understand....”

“Yes,” Luke agrees. “Yes... as many as feels natural. As many as we want, together.... that we agree upon. I want what you want. Whatever it is.” He kisses her neck, hardly able to believe he's ready for a second round, but they're compatible in that, too. “I'm yours. You're mine. We'll do it all together.” His words trail off as he begins more earnestly making lover to her again, rocking the bed with his intensity.

They make love all afternoon, pouring their energy and intentions into not only loving each other, but also their new common goal—creating a child. After Leia loses track of how many times she comes, and she and Luke are dozing blissfully, they receive another summons from Lohar. Reluctantly, they shower and dress, barely keeping their hands off each other the whole time, then join their hostess in the same dining room as last night.

“How are you?” She asks knowingly. “A good day?”

“Very good,” Luke says, smiling.

“So I have thought. I am glad.” She nods, eyeing Leia especially. “Wondering why I have called you? Because you must study. You cannot learn the matchmaking skills it one day only. Every day, we must practice. Three weeks more. Then, you may go.”

Three more weeks in this paradise appeals to Luke very much. “And the Force-sensitive student you have promised us?”

“Yes, it will happen. I not forget.”

“Then we agree. Teach us more.”

She does, every day for several hours. They grow closer to Maia and Buwa, who live nearby, and Leia gets her fill of tending to the little baby, while Luke bonds with some of the older children.

Time passes incredibly quickly, but also so slowly that at times Luke thinks all he's ever known in life is making love to Leia and helping Lohar match couples. He wants to return to the life they left behind, but he knows he'll miss the easiness of living in Karr.

After three weeks, they finish their final session with Lohar. They are both officially certified as matchmakers, with the power to approve any couple they deem appropriate.

“Now, you are official. But still, there is one thing more. Before you go.”

“The child?” Luke asks.

Lohar laughs, shaking her head. “Soon... but not yet.”

Leia dismisses her frustration with Lohar, telling herself it is unbecoming for a Jedi, but she still speaks up. “Lohar, you promised repeatedly that you’d send us home with a student, but you haven’t even introduced us to any Force-sensitive children....”

“Both of you, so impatient,” she chides with a grin. “Well-matched. You will meet the child when it is time. No, before you go, I preform final match ceremony. On Mabion, when matched, a couple spends a few days, a few weeks, a few months maybe together, learning each other, seeing if they enjoy the match and agree it. Almost all do, nine-hundred and nine-nine out of a thousand, but still important to test, to know that you are happy together before the final ceremony. Because the final ceremony is always.”

Luke nods. “I like that... you still say no, even if the match is high.”

“Yes. And sometimes the high match includes the departing. I have seen it twice.” Her eyes are smiling again. “But it is not such case for you two.”

“No,” Luke agrees. “It is not so.”

“Good. Then you will agree to the final ceremony. So many wish to see it. So many have heard of your happiness. You will bond before all, and it will be official.”

Luke glances at Leia, though he already knows her answer in his heart. “Officially bound together, huh?” he says with a smile.

Leia smiles, nuzzling him with no cares for whether anyone else will see. “Do you want to marry me?” she whispers.

Luke laughs softly, unbelieving, holding her back tightly. “Yes,” he murmurs. “Yes, absolutely.” It's not the same as it'd be on Coruscant with their actual friends able to attend, but it's also unlikely they'll ever be able to have such a ceremony in the Core. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Leia senses his slight regret and yearning, but they both feel the same. This is all they can have for now, but it’s more than they ever thought they’d have, and they absolutely want to take it. She smiles and kisses him. “Let’s do it.”

“Cannot be undone,” Lohar cautions. “There is no change mind.”

Leia nods. “We understand.”

“There is no changing my mind,” Luke affirms, kissing her back.

“Then it shall be done, in three hours hence.”

Once they agree, Lohar claps her hands, and her attendants arrive. They take both Luke and Leia together into another room, which is filled with all varieties of decadent, ceremonial garb. The twins aren't separated during the dressing, as it's part of the ceremony. They pick out their clothes together, dress together, complement each other and complete each other.

The final ceremony is held on the stage overlooking the main plaza, where Luke and Leia first met Lohar. This ceremony begins reverent, with utmost silence, Luke and Leia walking to the front of the stage hand-in-hand in golden robes and ropes and ropes of golden chains, which catch the light from a dozen torches and bonfires in the fading twilight.

Lohar speaks to the crowd, who do not make a sound, and then turns to Luke and Leia, murmuring an incantation in her own language. She is handed a golden bowl of water, which she uses to moisten both of their foreheads, then sprays a powder of gold dust at each of them, which sticks to the water and makes their foreheads reflect the torch light as well. For a moment, Leia thinks the air around them is glowing, as if she and Luke have taken on a supernatural light of their own.

As the last of the sunlight fades, the twins on stage seem to rise up together as a new sun, glowing brilliant and strong, blazing from the stage to light the audience. Lohar speaks again, reverent and strong, and then steps back, to let the twins shine together, unobstructed by anything.

They hold hands, facing the crowd, and then Luke pulls Leia close and they kiss, their radiance somehow glowing even brighter and more majestic. At last, the cheers and cries of happiness the audience has been reverently holding back erupt forth in a joyous cacophony of sound and applause.

When they break the kiss, their faces still close enough that Leia can feel Luke's breath on her lips, she says, "We should... probably come back here sometimes. For our anniversary, maybe." Somehow, the adoration from the crowd for this feels different than their celebrity in the Core. There are no expectations, no conditions. They're not known for any accomplishments. They're loved for who they are, and who they are is each other's match.

“I'd like that very much,” Luke says. For their anniversary, and to be able to be a couple together. To be their true selves, with not fear.

They face the audience again, to more cheers, and then Lohar hugs them both, individually and then together, which causes more cheers. At last, the twins are led off stage.

Luke feels as though he's walking on a cloud. It's a purely ceremonial event, but somehow it feels like they really are more bound to each other now.

“Tomorrow,” Lohar says, “I will show you the child. Enjoy your first night together as one.”

As soon as they're alone, Leia grabs Luke, kissing him with desperate need, feeling like she's still glowing. "You're mine," she gasps. "You always were, but now...."

All the finery, all the gold silks and chains and priceless brocades mean nothing to Luke, he pulls them off hurried, almost roughly, to reveal the true bounty—Leia's bare skin, still shimmering gold from the dust. “I'm yours,” he agrees, helping her pull off his finery as well. “You're mine. Forever...” She feels the change of it, too. It's all more official, somehow. Perhaps Lohar did something this time that locked their matches in place permanently. It feels like he's inside her, around her, and they're hardly touching. Everything is so strong and intense. “Leia.” He kisses her, pulling her toward the bed. He needs more.

Leia tumbles into the bed, pulling him with her, kissing him urgently as he mounts her. His body entering hers sends a jolt of intensity and awareness through her, as if this is the first time they've had contact, as if this is the first time anyone's touched her. She moans, shivering with pleasure, looking up at Luke, at a loss as to how to make sense of this new sensation. "Oh...." she gasps. "Oh, Luke...."

“It's real,” he gasps as he kisses her, shivering with the intensity. “She did something... bound us... in more than just words.” He can't stop his body from moving inside her, though it's so intense he's not sure how long he'll last. “Permanently bound like this,” he gasps in her ear, rocking more and more roughly. “Forever.”

Their breathing is already heavy, and the intensity is on the verge of being too much without actually crossing the line. The pleasure is, in fact, so intense for Leia that she's not entirely sure how many times she comes. They make love through most of the night, only stopping a few times to talk or get a glass of water or something from the perpetually renewing food tray in the sitting room. It's only a couple hours before dawn that they fall into an exhausted and satisfied sleep, tangled up in each other.

When they awake, late in the day, Luke's hand is pressed to Leia's stomach.

They kiss each other awake in turns, making love again once more, the fatigue from the night's sessions faded away completely. They make their way to the shower, where they make love again, and finally find clothes and food and manage to keep their hands to themselves for more than a few minutes. “We're going to have to move in together,” he says, matter-of-factly. “I'm not going to be able to last without this every day.”

"We have to," Leia agrees, nodding. "I don't care how it looks." She pokes her food. "We've been dancing around this, but I do want to go home. And I do want to be together, and I don't want to have to hide it. Maybe we won't really talk about it, but I don't want to build our future on lies. Many people keep their private lives private."

Luke nods. “We'll make it work. I'm a Jedi. You're on the New Republic senate. Perhaps we can even... push for reform. An acceptance of relationships like ours, born from love and trust and compatibility. It's not wrong. We can prove it's not wrong.”

The idea scares Leia, but she's never been one to shy away from something just because she has a knee-jerk fear response. "The fact that we were matched traditionally on Mabion might help our case," she says. "We're not from here, but it would be a violation of the rights of those from Mabion if the Republic didn't recognize their marriage customs." She nods, almost to herself. "It could work."

“Something to look into when we return. Something to fight for. Together.” He smiles.

When Lohar summons them, Luke thinks it will be for the last time. He's therefore somewhat dismayed when he doesn't see or sense a child with her or nearby. They settle on the cushions before her as they've gotten used to doing.

“Do not be troubled,” Lohar says, kindly. “I have brought you before me one last time. To show you the child you will raise in the Force, with Mabion's teaching to guide you.”

“We are ready,” Luke says.

She takes their hands, one each, and they connect in the Force, like they have in the past, when she has matchmaked. The cord of their union blazes strong before them, radiant and golden now, locked permanently through the powers of the master matchmaker. It's glorious to behold, and confirms what Luke already suspected last night—the final ceremony was more than just for show. It metaphysically bound him to Leia; they can never be unmatched or matched to another person, as their essences have been permanently fused together.

After a moment of marveling at the golden unbreaking chain between them, Lohar moves them deeper into the Force, directing them with her energy, helping them focus, leading them down and down into the place that the golden cord begins, the root of the growth, and there, faint but strong, they clearly see it—a new growth that has seemingly sprouted directly from their golden union.

“The child you will bring back,” Lohar says, “strong in the Force, created on Mabion, is here. It is yours.”

Leia's eyes snap open, too astonished to really register the importance of what Lohar's just revealed. "You intended that all along. Didn't you?"

Lohar smiles. "I saw that this would happen. Have I not given you what I promised?"

"Luke wanted a student—"

"Will he not teach your child?"

Leia starts on more protests, before finally letting herself relax back into her perfect happiness. She wets her lips and looks at Luke. "I'm pregnant," she whispers.

Luke's hand is already in Leia's, but he squeezes it tightly, his heart pounding. They knew there was a chance. They were actively trying for it. It shouldn't be a surprise, and yet. And yet, he's delighted and nearly speechless. All he can manage is, “Thank you,” to Lohar. He's not going to be taking a child from this world away from their family, or community. He's not going to be given the heavy responsibility of trying to raise a child away from their culture. He's been given a gift, instead. A wife, a lover, and a family. He's been given his own child, and the means to create more. Tears of joy streak down his face, and his heart aches it's so full to bursting. “Thank you,” he repeats again.

Lohar shakes her head, smiling at the couple. "All I do is say what you already know," she says humbly.

"Thank you," Leia echoes Luke, shaking her head at Lohar's protests. "No, you did so much. Thank you." She turns to Luke, kissing him, almost laughing she's so happy. She's wanted this so badly, only to be given it so easily as soon as there was the slightest catalyst. Leia supposes that's what love is like, when it's finally with the one you're meant for. "Let's go home?"

Luke nods, unable to stop smiling. There's still a long road ahead of them filled with obstacles they have to overcome, but he knows now that he can face them. Together, hand-in-hand, trusting and open to each other, they can overcome anything. “Let's go home.”


End file.
